Newbie- Good Quality Endmills for Aluminum

[webgeek]

Hi all; I've always used junk uncoated HSS enmills from Enco. Usually they cost ~3 bucks each. Now that I've got a nice new mill to do some production jobs I need to step up the quality and production speed.

To that end, I'm cutting thin aluminum series 3003 and 6061-T6 that's either .09" or .125" thick. I'll be doing a huge amount of profiling, a little drilling (.125 and .09375 specifically) as well as some shallow pocketing. I have a max spindle speed of 6k and a travel speed of ~120 IPM. All cuts will be full on flood coolant. In general, I'll need most of the profiling to be done with 1/8" - 1/4" endmills due to the radius of the curves. I'm assuming finishing passes will be used as needed.

So with all that said, what would be some good quality end mills (and where to order them online) that will give my profiles and pockets a nice finish while still letting me go fast? I assume carbide, but I'm unsure about the real quality difference between brands and the like. I'm willing to spend the money to get good stuff for these "production" jobs vs. the cheap stuff I use for playing around. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Mike

[Shotout]

In aluminum I'm fond of the Garr 3 flute alumastar (sp?) coated end mills. I've had good luck with conventional speeds and feeds as well as HSM with the same mill. Plain jane MSC Accupro Zrn coated 3 flute end mills work nearly as well but will cost more. Personally I like the Garr better as it holds up longer and I get higher chip loads from them without a loss of surface finish. Also they are available with more selections in corner radii, LOC and reduced neck in stock when needed. Click on the Find a Distributor tab on the top of Garr's web page to find a tool salesman in your area. You can pick the end mill online and then email a request for quote to whom ever carries them in your region. Figure a decent 1/4 carbide end mill with coating and ground for aluminum is going to cost about $30 no matter which brand you pick. The increased cutting speeds, reduced wear, dimensional stability and ease of maintaining a surface finish should offset the cost of carbide and then a little.

Originally Posted by webgeek Hi all; I've always used junk uncoated HSS enmills from Enco. Usually they cost ~3 bucks each. Now that I've got a nice new mill to do some production jobs I need to step up the quality and production speed. To that end, I'm cutting thin aluminum series 3003 and 6061-T6 that's either .09" or .125" thick. I'll be doing a huge amount of profiling, a little drilling (.125 and .09375 specifically) as well as some shallow pocketing. I have a max spindle speed of 6k and a travel speed of ~120 IPM. All cuts will be full on flood coolant. In general, I'll need most of the profiling to be done with 1/8" - 1/4" endmills due to the radius of the curves. I'm assuming finishing passes will be used as needed. So with all that said, what would be some good quality end mills (and where to order them online) that will give my profiles and pockets a nice finish while still letting me go fast? I assume carbide, but I'm unsure about the real quality difference between brands and the like. I'm willing to spend the money to get good stuff for these "production" jobs vs. the cheap stuff I use for playing around. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Mike

[Cmailco]

OSG's "Blizzard" and Destiny Tool's "Viper DVH" are two of the best I've seen in those size ranges.

[CORBIN92087]

ive found for aluminum the endmills from cgs.com work the best for me.

[yellerrado]

garr does make a good end mill for aluminum. thier radius endmills cut beautifully with a very nice surface finish. we almost religiously use data flute for our end mills, partially because we have them the next morning after ordering